Shabazz Napier

The long-held belief had been that in order to be the best, you had to be built to beat the best. So you strategized with Jordan Rules, added bulk to contend with the beef of Shaq, worked to solve the riddle of Phil Jackson's triangle. But what the NBA has shown in recent years, particularly in the past three, is that success has been delivered through diversity: the LeBron James-centric Miami Heat in 2012 and '13, the selfless San Antonio Spurs and their irrepressible ball movement in 2014, and now the 3-point threat of the Golden State Warriors. Yet among the league's lesser half, where the depth of talent is decidedly shallower, the focus can remain singular:...

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Welcome to a second season of Morning Shootaround. We will follow the Terps throughout the 2013-14 season, but this year in this space, we will provide a look ahead rather than back. We will try to analyze Maryland's strengths and weaknesses, as well as...

Mark Turgeon has said repeatedly that he was going to coach differently this season, that he wasn't going to worry about a player's ego, that he was going to do what was best for his team.
A three-game snapshot is certainly not enough to make a final...

Baltimore Sun reporters Jeff Barker and Don Markus and producer-editor Jonas Shaffer weigh in on three of the biggest topics of the past week in Maryland sports.
Should Mark Turgeon keep Dez Wells at point guard, or should he move him back to the...

COLLEGE PARK — Maryland point guard Varun Ram used to get stares from opposing guards who thought they could dominate him on the court.
When he played at River Hill in Clarksville and with a Howard County-based Amateur Athletic Union team, Ram said few...

The long wait for Maryland junior forward Evan Smotrycz ended with mixed emotions.
Smotrycz, who played in his first game since transferring from Michigan two summers ago, was disappointed in the way the Terps came out against No. 18 Connecticut Friday...

BROOKLYN, N.Y. — Maryland returned to the Barclays Center a year older and maybe a year wiser, but the Terps seemed to follow the same script against No. 18 Connecticut on Friday night that they did in a three-point loss to No. 3 Kentucky in last season’s...

Shaquille Cleare and Charles Mitchell have been best friends since coming up for the Capital Classic before their freshman year at Maryland and have roomed together since coming to College Park a few months later.
That makes things a little tricky if...

The Baltimore Sun's Don Markus, Jeff Barker and Jonas Shaffer weigh in on three topics in Terps athletics this week.
What’s the biggest difference between this year’s season opener against Connecticut at the Barclays Center and last year’s opener against...

In anticipation for Friday's Maryland-Connecticut season opener at the Barclays Center, we traded emails with Dom Amore, who covers UConn men's basketball for the Hartford Courant. (For more of Dom's coverage, check out his blog over at the Courant's...

Connecticut's Ryan Boatright and Omar Calhoun combined for 43 points — almost as many as the entire UMES team — and the host Huskies stayed unbeaten athome with an 84-50 win Monday in the schools' first meeting in men's basketball in 25 years.
It was...

SYRACUSE, N.Y. — The loss to UConn last year on the final Sunday in March cut deep. It cut a proud coach. It cut a proud Michigan State basketball program. UConn's greatest joy would give the returning Spartan players their greatest pain and eventually...

They could have quit on this one, instead there almost was an improbable victory.
Almost.
Starting shorthand and growing even more shorthanded as the night went on, the Miami Heat nearly pulled off something remarkable Friday night at the Verizon...

No championship banner, no ring ceremony, but the buzz was back.
Some of it was familiar, like Chris Bosh and Dwyane Wade making shots when needed.
Some of it was new, like Norris Cole starting and scoring at point guard.
Some of it was refreshing,...

Kevin Ollie has maintained all along that his heart was at UConn. Now he has a new five-year contract to remain as coach of the Huskies."Thank you, God, for opening up so many doors, for me to be working in Storrs," Ollie tweeted just after 2...

Who said the NCAA can't respond in a timely fashion when it is under savage daily attack and facing several lawsuits that could put college's governing body out of business?
Only days after Connecticut basketball star Shabazz Napier complained that he...

ARLINGTON, Texas — The smiling Huskies huddled on the stage with the NCAA national championship trophy after their 60-54 victory over Kentucky on Monday night.And front and center, Ryan Boatright couldn't keep his hands off the award. Like his approach on...

ARLINGTON, Texas — Well everyone had it wrong — you, me, the postman and the NCAA selection committee.
All that teeth-gnashing over tournament seeding has produced an NCAA championship game between a No. 7 and No. 8.
Let's hear it for a collective No....

The big man talks to himself. Cuss words. Which can be a problem in the team huddle.
"I always put the towel over my mouth in timeouts," he says.
If Frank Kaminsky has an unusual method of self-motivation during games, count that as one of his...

NEW YORK — Kevin Ollie was taking the first steps down a road very few have traveled with success, the hazard-filled, replacing-the-legend road. There at the start was Tom Izzo, who had done it.
"The thing that sticks out to me," Ollie said....

BUFFALO, N.Y. — Although Shabazz Napier's achievement — leading UConn in scoring, assists and rebounding — is unique and impressive, it's not ideal.
Coach Kevin Ollie is not shy about reminding his big men that rebounding should be their forte. Amida...